Railway-tie.



JOHN W. CLARK, JR., OF PROVO, UTAH.

RAILWAY-TIE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 31, 1911.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Serial No. 605,728.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Provo, in the county of Utahand State of -Utah, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailway-Ties; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification, and to thefigures and letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to railway ties, the objects being to provide arailway tie having a metal body structure with means whereby the railsmay be supported at spaced intervals in the length of the rails withoutthe necessity of employing cross connections at every support.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure in which aplurality of supporting surfaces for each rail will be connectedtogether and united to a corresponding plurality of supports for theopposite rail by a single cross connection whereby the necessity ofemploying a full cross tie for each pair of supports is avoided.

In the accompanying drawing there is illustrated, in perspective, arailway tie embodying the present improvements, one of the rails beingshown in dotted lines.

In said drawing the letter A indicates a trough-like metal crossconnection or tie body, preferably formed of sheet or plate metal with aflat bottom portion cl. and vertical side walls a. It is adapted at eachend to form chambers for the reception of blocks B of wood or similarmaterial, while transverse extensions C on each end support or formcorresponding chambers for the reception of other blocks of wood orsimilar material B spaced away from the blocks B a distancecorresponding approximately to the distance' ordinarily maintainedbetween the usual cross ties.

The body A of the tie and the transverse extensions C at each endthereof may all be formed of plate metal leentI into the proper shapeand united by rivets, welding or otherwise, as found most convenient,and the chambers for the reception of the blocks of wood may besimilarly formed up of plate metal, the whole being united in asubstantially rigid structure adapted to form a very solid support forthe rails, present a large flat area for Contact with the road bed, andat the same time afford every facility for tamping, in order to alinethe rails in the usual manner.

As illustrated in the drawings, the side walls of the trough-like body Aalso constitute the side walls of the chambers for the blocks B, and theupper edges of said side walls are bent .inwardly at D to form flan esoverlying the blocks. Said flanges and side walls are cut away at (Z toform transverse openings in the tops of the chambers in which the basesof the rails may seat on the supporting blocks B, said flanges and sidewalls also forming shoulders between which the rails will be heldagainst lateral movement.

For closing the ends of the chambers for the blocks B as well as thechambers for the blocks B', angle plates E, E may be einployed, theplates E being rigidly mounted in position at the inner ends of thechambers, while the plates E at the outei' ends of the chamber areremovable so as to permit of the ready insertion and removal of theblocks, but held in place by tongues c passing down through openings inthe bottom of the chamber, and by a spike or similar fastening insertedthrough an opening e in the overlying portion of the said angle plate.

Obviously, the chambers may be formed in various ways; for instance, asillustrated at. G, the inner ends and top portions of the chambers areintegral with the side walls being bent down into position to close theends of the chambers and completely inclose and protect the blocks.

The transverse extensions C aie conveniently of trough-likeconstruction, that is to say, they are open at the top and have verticalside Walls and a flat bottom, suitable provision being made in the formof openings c for the escape of water. The height of the side walls ofthe troughlike body A and the extensions C will of course depend uponthe strength for which the structure is designed and the weight of themetal employed, but it is preferred that they shall approximate in depthor height the thickness of an ordinary railway tie, and while they areprimarily designed for use in a manner in which ordinary ties areVemployed, said trough-like structures may be readily filled with brokenstone or other heavy material which will increase the stability andweight By making the tie with a single cross.

connection between the rails for holding a plurality of rail supportsunder each rail, it is obvious that the metal employed may be greatlyeconomized.

A tie such as illustrated and described may be used in alternation withties having single rail supports or they may be used exclusively leavingthe usual space between the ends of the transverse projections onadjacent ties. A track laid in accordance with this idea will thereforepresent three rail supports on each side connected rigidly together andto the corresponding rail' supports on the other side, then a space, andanother series of rail supports connected in the manner beforedescribed.

For securing the rails in place, ordinary spikes may be employed, andwhen the blocks have become worn or the spikes loose, said blocks may bewithdrawn from their chambers and reversed, thus presenting` newsurfaces for the rails to rest upon and new positions for the spikes.

It will be understood, of course, that the chambers at the ends of thetransverse projections on the tie have openings through their upperportions in which the bases or flanges of the rails may seat on thewooden blocks, and in the preferred construction the side walls are cutdo-wn in alinement wit-h said openings to a point which will prevent therails from bearing on said side walls.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A, metal tie for railways embodying a cross piece having railsupports at its opposite ends and a transverse extension on each end,each extension having a rail support spaced away from the rail supportat the ends of the cross piece.

2. A metal tie for railways embodying a transverse body portion havingrail supports at its opposite ends and oppositely disposed extensions ateach end, each extension being provided with a rail support spaced fromthe first mentioned rail support, and the whole constituting asubstantially rigid structure, substantially as described.

3. A railway t-ie embodying a metal cross body having chambers in itsopposite ends, transverse extensions secured to each end of said crossbody and having chambers spaced from the chambers at the ends of thecross body, and blocks of wood or similar material held in said chambersand constituting rail supports.

4. A railway tie embodying a metal body having chambers at its oppositeends, transverse sections on the ends of said tie each having a chamberspaced from the first mentioned chamber, rail supporting securing saidblocks in position, whereby a plurality of spaced rail supports areprovided at each end of the tie.

5. A railway tie embodying two parallel series of spaced rail supports,the supports of each series being connected together longitudinally ofthe rail, and a single central connection between the two series ofsupports.

6. A railway tie embodying a trough-like metal body having chambers inits opposite ends, transverse extensions on opposite sides at each endof said body, each of said extensions having a chamber at its end, allof said chambers having openings therethrough at the top for theadmission of rail bases, and blocks held in said chambers for supportingthe rails.

7. A railway tie embodying a central metal body extending transverselyof the rails and having rail supports at its opposite ends, trough-likeextensions arranged at right angles to each end of said body and eachhaving a rail sup-port spaced from the first mentioned rail support.

8. A railway tie embodying a metal body having upturned side wallsforming a trough-like structure, and chambers at the ends of saidtrough-like body, trough-like transverse extensions at each side ofvsaid chamber, chambers carried by said trough like extensions, andblocks forming supports for the rails mounted in said chambers.

JOHN W. CLARK, JR. Vitnesses j THOMAS DURANT, ALEXANDER S. STEUART.

blocks mounted in said chambers, and means for Copies of this patent maybe obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ofPatents,

Washington, D. C.

